Green and Purple
by natashawitch
Summary: Weechesters A new town. A new school. On Thursday 5th May 1988, Miss Guilder asks her kindergarten class to make Mother's day cards for their Mommies. Sammy doesn't know what to do. Sam is 5. Dean is 9.


Sammy had a green crayon all ready to go.

He grasped it tightly in his fist and looked at the white card on the table. All the other girls and boys had a crayon and folded over piece of card. Next to him, Nancy-Squishy-Face had a red crayon. Smelly-pants-Todd who still wore a diaper had the other green crayon, the grassy green one but Sammy had the best one, the color of the trees that he saw out the 'pala window.

"Attention Class," Nice-Brown-Dress-Teacher said and she smiled around at everyone, "Does everyone have a crayon in their favorite color?"

Of course, moaning-Mustafa didn't, he wanted a blue one, so teacher opened a new box just for him. Sammy strained to look, in case there was a better green one, but it was all OK.

"Sunday is a real special day. It is Mother's Day. We are going to make cards to give to our Mommies to tell them how much we love them. I want you all to draw a picture of your Mommy on the card."

The kindergarten class cheered but Sammy bit his lip and crushed the crayon hard in his hand, he didn't know what he should draw. He looked around panicking at the sight of the others laughing and sneaky-Sue was already drawing on her card. Todd wasn't laughing he looked like he was going to cry.

"Todd and Maria are very special today because they get to do other cards."

Sammy saw Todd and Maria look up at the teacher. Maybe he could do a special card too.

"Todd, would you like to draw a picture of your Auntie Flo, I bet Auntie Flo would love a card?"

Todd beamed the biggest smile Sammy had seen him do since joining the class on Monday.

"Maria, how about you draw all the kids at home with Mr and Mrs Gaul, and give it to your foster mom on Sunday."

"OK teacher" Maria said shyly. She was a really quiet kid, but Sammy liked her, she had shared her juice with him on Monday when he was the new kid.

All the class started to draw their Mommies, and Aunties and Foster Moms, so Sammy stayed real still and thought about licking his crayon to see what it tasted like.

"Sammy?"

Teacher was crouched down on the floor beside him, her hand with the big sparkly ring was on the back of his red plastic chair. "Are you going to draw a picture for your Mommy?"

"I...I don'thaveaMommycosshedied...an' Iwasababy..." Sammy looked at the teacher with wide eyes and bit the inside of his lip while he waited to see what would happen next.

"I'm very sorry that you don't have a Mommy. Do you want to draw your Auntie, or Step-Mom, or Grandma?"

"Don't 've 'em." Sammy clamped his mouth shut real tight. He was not meant to talk about family in school. Bad things happened. He didn't want to go home now, because Daddy could ask what he had done and he would say he had told that he didn't have a Mommy, and Daddy would get very angry because he had told about his family and he mentioned Mommy which was very very bad and got Daddy very angry.

Sammy started to cry. He couldn't stop. Teacher lifted him up and brought him up to her big desk and sat him on her lap. She rubbed his back and told him he was a very good boy and she was very sorry for upsetting him. She gave him some juice and pried the crayon from his grasp so he could drink it.

Sammy stayed on her lap and she folded a new card on her desk.

"Who takes care of you at home, Sammy? Who makes your dinner and breakfast, and washes you, and puts you to bed?"

That was easy, "De!"

"OK? Dee? Do you want to draw a picture of Dee on your card?"

Sammy thought it was the best idea ever. He had his green crayon because that was his favorite color. If Sammy woke up first then he got to see Dean open his eyes and see the green color, or if Dean woke Sammy then he would open his own eyes to see Dean's green ones peering down at him.

Sammy started to draw. He did a circle shape for Dean's head and put two big eyes in and a big smile like when Dean got pie at a diner.

Then he drew a body shape and two long legs because Dean was a big boy, not like Sammy.

Teacher looked at his drawing and she said, "That is real good, Sammy. I am sure Dee will love it."

Sammy smiled at her and wondered if he could draw the 'pala next to Dean.

"Is Dee your Pop's girlfriend?"

"Silly!" Sammy giggled. He squirmed down off Teacher's lap and turned around in circles laughing. "Silly silly silly," he cried and then ran all the way around the big table, because he could and Teacher was really funny and sometimes he liked to run.

Finally he got dizzy and he flopped down onto the beanbag next to the boxes of jigsaws.

Teacher came over. She wasn't smiling and Sammy thought she might be mad at him for running in the classroom. She called out to the class to check if they were OK. Ginny-joker wanted to know if she could draw her Papa too, and Teacher said yes. Then she dropped down next to Sammy.

"Sammy? Who is Dee?"

"The bestest brother in the whole world." Sammy announced, proud of himself that he remembered what he had called Dean that had made Dean blush real red.

"Oh." Teacher said, "Is Dean at school here? Or is he too big for school?"

Sammy bit his lip. That was too hard to answer.

"Sammy? Is Dean your big brother, like big like me and the kids at the high school?"

"No ma'm. Dean is big, He is my big brother, and he is the bestest brother and everything."

"Good Sammy. That is great. How big is Dean?"

"De is bigger than me and smaller than you." Sammy pronounced. He wanted to get up now and play with something else, but teacher was looking at him for more words. "Dean is home at the motel, cos he has the purple face and Daddy said he couldn't come to school this time. I hates purple, is bad color, not like green. Green is the best!"

Teacher had a real strange look on her face. She patted Sammy's head and told him to stay on the bean bag. She got him Dr Seuss Green Eggs and Ham to look at and brought him Dean's card to keep safe.

Soon it was break time and the kids all pushed their chairs back loudly. They all lined up and Teacher led them to the school cafeteria. The little kids went first so they got their juice and buns before the bigger kids took their break.

Sammy had a juice and was deciding if he wanted the sticky bun or the fruit one, when Teacher and Mr Appleby the principal called him over. Sammy had seen Mr Appleby on Monday when Daddy had put him in the school. He didn't look like an apple. He looked more like a carrot with his long face and carrot colored hair.

They took Sammy down to a new room where the nice lady with the fluffy pink jumper was. Sammy had seen the nice lady in the playground and she came and took Maria for a while one day. Sammy was sure she was nice because all the kids smiled when they saw her and Maria ran and kissed her when she collected her from class.

"Hi Sammy," the nice lady said.

"Hey" Sammy sucked on his juice bottle.

"I'm Miss Berry, but you can call me Kitty."

Sammy laughed. She was called Kitty, like a baby cat.

Kitty laughed back, "You are such a lovely little boy, Sammy, Miss Guilder tells me you are really good in her class and you work hard and know things that boys in bigger classes do. Does your Father help you with school at home?"

"No ma'm, no Kitty," Sammy remembered he could call the nice lady Kitty, "De helps me."

"Ah Dee? Miss Guilder said Dee takes care of you, but Dee is your brother, that can't be true?"

"No ma..Kitty, I is not lying, I tell the truth, Dean does, he takes care of me, he does, I swears." Sammy breathed faster, he didn't lie. Lies were bad things.

"What age are you Sammy?" Kitty asked as she looked at a sheet of paper.

"I am five." Sammy said proudly. He was five now. Dean had given him a big slice of pie and a new army man and told him it was his birthday last Monday when he came home from his first day at the new school.

"And what age is Dee?"

"Nine."

"Nine?"

"Yes Ma'am. When I is nine, I will be allowed to help Daddy like Dean does, I'm too small now." Sammy sighed and thought about Dean's gun which he wasn't allowed to touch.

"Tell me now, Sammy, does Dean tell you a story when he puts you to bed?"

"Yes ma'am, if have been a good Sammy."

"And what about dinner, what does Dean make for your dinner?"

"Lucky Charms is my favorite, but sometimes he makes canned beans and bread, or peanut butter jelly sandwiches, and sometimes he makes us eats carrots and long beans cos if we doesn't then he says our nails on our fingers will go all bumpy again." Sammy put a finger to his lips, "and sometimes, but don't tell, we has gummi bears."

"What about your Father, Sammy?"

"We goes eat in a diner with Daddy."

"OK. Does your Daddy cook for you?"

"No silly. Daddies don't cook. Dean cooks."

"What does Daddy do?"

"He works very hard and he is really brave, De says he is the bravest Daddy and even when Daddy makes Dean turn purple, Dean..." Sammy closed his mouth real tight.

"Your teacher says green is your favorite colour and purple your least favorite, can you tell me why?"

"Dee's eyes is green, and the army men are green, and the grasses outside the 'pala are sometimes a real preddy green."

"That is great Sammy, what about purple?"

"Is bad."

"It is?"

"I'm not allowed say."

"But you can tell me what you don't like about the color."

"No. You can't make me, even if you push me and bang me up and hold me up under my face and kicks me purple I won't tell you."

"OK, calm down, there is good boy. Where is your brother now?"

"In the motel. Is it nearly home time, cos I must walk out the big gates and go to the corner and Dean will be waiting by the big tree and we is going to laundry today after school, and I likes that cos is always warm in them and sometimes nice ladies gives me candy while we watch the spinning."

"That's good, Sammy." The nice lady said, "Do you want to go back to class now?"

Sammy nodded and Kitty held his hand while they walked back to the other children. He heard the lady tell his teacher that she was going to telephone Susan and get Susan to come to the school tomorrow. Sammy wondered if Susan was coming because he had told that Dean was not in school. He hadn't meant to say that. He chewed on his thumbnail and worried that Dean would think he was a bad boy for telling.

When school finished at lunchtime, Sammy ran like the wind with his De card flapping in his hand. Dean was leaning against the big tree. He had a scarf over his purple and yellow face and was bundled up in his too big anorak. It was a nice day and Sammy worried that Dean was cold. He handed his light satchel to his big brother.

"De, made you a card, and I got the green crayon, and it is for Mommy Day, and teacher said I could for you, cos other boys and girls had no Mommy too."

Dean's face went from pleased to sad to worried in the time it took Sammy to tell his brother.

"Hey buster, did you tell them you had no Mommy?" Dean stood in front of Sammy and walked backwards.

"I had to, Deeee, cos we had to draw mommies."

"OK ok. What did you draw?"

"Is you!" Sammy handed over the green line drawing of Dean.

Dean's shoulders hitched as if he was going to laugh, but Sammy didn't have time to get offended because Dean told him it was awesome.

Sammy put his shoulders back and walked proud beside his brother.

"So they were cool with that?" Dean asked.

"Dunno, cos I had to see the nice lady and then she said that Susan is coming tomorrow."

"Who is Susan?"

"Dunno, De, but it was weird and all." Sam's arm was pulled towards the phone box instead of down the driveway of their motel.

Dean dug in his pockets for a nickel and while Sam leaned against the sun warmed wall, Dean spun the dial around lots of times for a long number.

"Pastor Jim?"

"Is that Unca Jim De? Can I say hello? Please preddy preddy please."

"No Sammy be quiet." Dean shushed his little brother and spoke into the receiver, "It's Dean. Can you get hold of Dad?"

Sammy was sulking now. He pretended not to listen.

"I think we were spotted on our own... No neither of us said anything, just someone saw us... Thanks Uncle Jim."

Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam, who got a bad hot feeling in his tummy, that Dean was mad at him.

They didn't go do laundry but Dean turned on the TV in their long stay room. He fiddled with the rabbit ears until all the snow was gone from the TV screen.

Sammy forgot about school and Susan and the other kids and Uncle Jim and that Dean might be angry with him, because it was a super night. They ate all their store of candy and finished the lucky charms and Dean melted their chocolate bars in all their milk on the electric ring. They drank hot chocolate until Sammy's belly was hard and round. When he woke up on the tatty sofa, Dean was putting his Mommy's Day card under the zip of his duffel. The next time he woke it was after dawn. Green trees flew by outside the window. He was under a blanket on the back seat of the Impala with his head on Dean's lap. Daddy was singing along to his music but Dean stayed quiet and rubbed Sammy's hair.

"Bye Bye teacher, bye bye Maria, bye bye new school." He drifted back to sleep, safe in Dean's hold.


End file.
